Attendance will soon be changing - please take a look at the links below to see how these changes will affect you and your child(ren). Changes will be implemented from 19/08/24
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance
Working Together to Improve School Attendance Booklet (from 19/08/24)
Attendance
100% attendance at school is extremely important to ensure all pupils achieve their full academic potential. We recognise that good attendance and punctuality is crucial to raising standards and pupil attainment. Any absence affects the pattern of a child's schooling and regular absence will seriously affect their learning.
We expect all children to attend school every day. Ensuring a child's attendance at school is a parental responsibility and permitting absence from school without good reason is an offence of the law and may result in prosecution.
The safeguarding of our pupils is paramount when they are in our care. For this reason, the Governing Body's policy on attendance aims to ensure every pupil is accounted for on each day that school is open and a comprehensive system of attendance is maintained for every pupil on roll.
As attendance is crucial to effective learning and the continuity of learning experiences, school places great emphasis on this in its communication with parents. We will do all we can to encourage the children to attend, and put in place appropriate procedures to support this.
Dear Parent / Carer,
Absence due to unauthorised leave taken during term time is a significant issue for all Bradford schools. Children in Bradford are twice as likely to be absent due to unauthorised leave during term time then the average child in England, with absence due to unauthorised leave during term time representing the third highest reason for absence behind Illness and general unauthorised absence. In the 2021-2022 academic year, Bradford children missed almost 150,000 days of school due to unauthorised leave taken during term time.
Absence due to unauthorised leave during term time covers a variety of reasons for absence, including holidays during term time and travel to other countries to visit family and attend celebrations and events. Currently schools can request a penalty notice from Bradford Council for each child, and each parent, where unauthorised leave takes place. Despite this, absence due to unauthorised leave during term time continues to take place, with a significant number of families taking more than one period of absence during an academic year, or taking a period of leave of four weeks or more.
A decision has been made by Bradford Council to change their approach to situations where families take two or more periods of unauthorised leave in a 12-month period, or when a period of four or more weeks of leave is taken. In these instances, Bradford Council will utilise the option to start legal proceedings via the magistrates’ court, instead of issuing a penalty notice. This means that parents may be liable to receive a significantly higher fine (up to £2,500 per child, per parent) if found guilty, as well as receive a criminal record, which may be reportable to employers (for example, via a DBS Check). In rare circumstances, magistrates can consider a custodial sentence for up to 3 months. This change will come into force from 1st April 2023.
I have no wish to deprive families of an extended period of leave away from our school, but my first concern has to be the educational development of your child. Requests for leave during term time are never taken lightly and we will always consider the social, emotional and cultural reasons for the leave, whether the leave is exceptional, as well as your child’s overall level of attendance, academic attainment and the impact any leave may have on your child’s learning during their time away. However, continued absence from school will have a detrimental impact on a child’s academic attainment, therefore I wish to make you aware that for this reason we support the decision of Bradford Council, and it’s important that you are aware of this change so that you can take this information into consideration
when deciding whether or not to take a period of unauthorised leave during term time.
Kind regards
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Education Safeguarding Service Manager Attendance, Prosecutions and Child Licensing City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council |